Juree's

You can still get burgers at Juree’s but there are few clues the joint was once a Burger King.

Juree Trentham, a veteran purveyor of Thai cuisine in Calgary, has transformed the one-time BK into an emerald, wicker-fringed jungle refuge.

The lofty-ceilinged chamber that once housed a fast food jungle gym is now a separate dining room with a blue sky tropical ambience.

Our sizeable gang took over part of that space, beneath lights suspended by cords doubling as green vines and dug into two orders of deep fried veggie rolls (6 for $9).

These were crispy with a savoury, peppery flavour and an almost creamy texture affecting some of them — and we dipped them into a carrot-studded sweet sauce.

We sampled two soups that both arrived in rather small bowls that typifies the portions served at Calgary Thai restaurants — always far smaller than what’s offered by their Chinese counterparts.

Their beef satay wasn’t bad — it fared better than its more parched chicken cousin.

The chicken with coconut milk soup ($8) was a simple concoction, spiced mildly and offered a surprisingly savoury flavour that went over well around our table.

Far more fiery was the hot and sour seafood soup ($9) whose fragrance matched its heat. I was a somewhat disappointed by the choice of seafood, however; it was pretty sparse on the prawns are heavier with the more generic, rubbery balls of seafood meat.

And we thought the fish with tamarind sauce ($18) was pretty steep for an unremarkable deep-fried, heavily battered seafood given a sweet preparation.

Our hosts’ matsaman curry with beef ($13) offered tender meat well-steeped in a curry somewhere between red and green versions, along with crunchy red peppers that graced many of the entrees.

This had a more robust curry kick than the slightly drab green curry ($14) which is normally a mainstay favourite of our’s.

The green curry passed us by without a lot of notice.

But the stir fry basil with pork ($13) was a fragrantly flavourful marriage of meat and vegetables.

So, too was the panang curry vegetarian dish ($13).

As for pad thai noodles ($13), Juree’s was a delicious mix of peanutty goodness and crunchy sprouts with a slightly tart accent.

Too bad it was supplied in such a restrained amount; half of the plate was taken up by needless dipping sauce and crushed peanut bowls and garnish.

The night of our visit was a fairly busy one for our hosts and service was good amidst a very cool atmosphere. But I couldn’t help but conclude we’ve enjoyed better Thai cuisine elsewhere in town.